Altered Course
by thecoleaderofgroupb
Summary: Brenda reflects on her mission given to her by the Chancellor as Group A wonders where Thomas was taken. It was simple: pretend to align herself with Group A and push Thomas, observing his reactions for WICKED's research. Only, Brenda's never been good at taking direction…


**Notes** : I wondered how Brenda came to be the one chosen to befriend Thomas in The Scorch and what eventually made her drop the charade. The description of the Maze in Group B is based off the comic _The True Maze_ in the prequel comic collection. A6 is Alby's Subject ID (which is what the WCKDisGood site gave as his Subject ID), Maria (my OC who is Minho's counterpart) is B7, and B8 is Sonya's Subject ID. The last two are fictional and were created to match up with the subject system given to the characters on the WCKDisGood site.

* * *

"Anything?"

Brenda shook her head no and watched as Newt rumpled his hair, muttering a string of foreign curse words she hadn't heard before. According to some WICKED tech, she had been told he was taken from his family in the United Kingdom, along with his sister. She didn't know what happened to the sister – hell, she probably died in early testing or maybe, just maybe she was running around with the other group, unaware that she had an older brother.

Jorge had tried to comfort her earlier but she pushed him away, mumbling that she wanted some time alone. The other boys had let her be, save for Newt or Minho asking if she saw The Berg again or a dark-skinned boy, Frypan or whatever his name was, offering her some dinner from their rations. She ate but was too distracted to enjoy whatever it was.

She screwed up big time – getting pulled into that messed up party was not supposed to happen, let alone them being kidnapped by people who were starting to lose their minds. Not that she cared about being reprimanded by her superiors after returning from The Scorch but the whole situation was making her sick just thinking about it.

 _She's 17 – about a month and half to her next birthday. The boys and girls have been in their Maze trials for almost 2 years. Thomas and Rachel have been in their Mazes for a few days. She had been reviewing chemical levels in the Group B members when she's summoned into the Chancellor's office._

 _"Chancellor," Brenda began, "to what do I owe the pleasure?"_

 _The older woman motions for her to sit down, pouring her a cup of coffee from the pot on the corner of her desk. She offered Brenda creamer and sugar but the latter declined. The Chancellor took a sip from her mug before leaning back in her seat, hands folded on the desk._

 _"Hello Brenda. I apologize for summoning you in the middle of your research but it is urgent," Ava said._

 _"It's…fine," Brenda said. She took a small sip from her mug to be polite and kept her dark eyes on the blue ones across from her. "How may I assist?"_

 _"I've been told that Subjects A2 and B2 are acclimating in their Mazes," Ava noted. "Soon A1 and B1 will join them, triggering the end of the experiments."_

 _So am I being excused? Brenda wondered as she shifted in her seat. After spending years with the group trying to suppress her dislike for them and their careless attitudes, leaving wouldn't be a bad thing. She had heard about some of the rebel groups that were gathering support against WICKED and their act of kidnapping young children for a cure._

 _"It's probably just talk, hermana," Jorge concluded with a shake of his head. "Don't get too excited – we'd probably be looking for ghosts if we left."_

 _"We will be initiating Phase 2 upon the completion of the Maze trials," Ava continued. "Group A and Group B will be put through similar tests in The Scorch, which we're looking to complete in a span of 2 weeks."_

 _"Sorry Chancellor but what does that have to do with me?" Brenda spoke up._

 _Ava leaned forward in her seat and pushed a file folder in front of her. Brenda peered at the label on the folder labeled Phase 2. What was this about?_

 _"It is my understanding that you and Jorge entered WICKED together," Ava replied. "Both of you never interacted with Thomas, which is why I'm selecting you to go into The Scorch. Since this Phase is out of our control, I will need eyes on the ground." She gestured for Brenda to take a closer look and Brenda slid the file closer, flipping it open to skim the contents._

 _"A Berg will drop you off in the closest town near the area Group A will emerge from. If any of the people there ask, you will tell them that you're also infected with the Flare and that WICKED has moved you from the healthy ones," Ava continued. "From what your colleagues tell me, Jorge's quite resourceful and he's good at leading – should be no problem to win the trust of the people there." She paused when she heard a knock at the door._

 _"Excuse me Chancellor, but I just wanted to report that Subjects A2 and B2 entered their Mazes after the doors closed," a WICKED tech announced._

 _Ava blinked and reached for a journal. She scribbled a few notes as she asked, "What was the trigger?"_

 _"In Group A, Subjects A7 and A6 investigated the Griever – A6 was stung and A7 struggled with getting an unconscious A6 back to the Glade," the tech reported. "In Group B however, we had Subjects B7 and B8 investigating the Shade with B8 getting scratched. Interesting to note that both Subjects A7 and B7 had the same tendency to bring the unconscious member back, versus abandoning them. Of course, I'll keep monitoring their progress."_

 _"Thank you," Ava replied. "This is an interesting twist in events but let's monitor and see how it plays out." She turned back to Brenda and apologized for the interruption._

 _Brenda shrugged as she drank more coffee and examined the documents in the file. She put her mug down and sat up straighter after reading one passage. "Teresa isn't with the group?"_

 _Ava shook her head and said that they were planning to switch the Triggers to see how they were treated by the other group. Brenda nibbled on her lip as she brought her mug to her lips. From what she analyzed about Group B, AKA the Icers, they were very suspicious of new people and could be hostile towards them. Well, maybe save for a few members who had a more sympathetic streak, but the majority were capable of making anyone feel unwelcome._

 _Hopefully Aris won't be ripped to shreds by the time Phase 1's over, Brenda thought as she finished her coffee. He wasn't weak per se but he wasn't one for conflict, based on her observations._

 _"Should I keep a low profile and observe from a distance?" Brenda asked._

 _"Actually, I was hoping that you and Jorge could encounter the group when they arrive – offer resources and "persuade" them to let you tag along for the cure," Ava said._

 _Brenda set her mug down on the desk and laced her fingers together. "Uh Chancellor? With all due respect, Jorge's always been a little…how do I say this? Gruff and slightly suspicious of everyone around him – I mean, it's not a bad thing, but that attitude helped him survive as long as he did on his own. I doubt he's going to want to pretend to be all buddy-buddy with anyone, let alone a group of possible Munie kids for a charade."_

 _Ava tilted her head and Brenda licked her lips, adding, "But I'm better at that – I can be friendly and approachable. Actually, I can probably act a little overly friendly, since we're supposed to act like we're really sick and not Immune. That work?"_

 _She watched as the Chancellor studied her before answering, "I think that would work. You did point out that not all individuals react to the Flare the same, which is accurate in our research. Yes, I think that would be acceptable – I'll leave that up to you and Jorge to work out the details."_

"Hey!"

Brenda blinked as someone snapped their fingers in front of her face. She looked up to see it was Minho standing over her.

"You think those Shuckfaces are gonna bring Thomas back?" he asked as he squatted down.

"Who knows?" she sighed, resuming her role once again. "They killed my dad in front of me – hate to say it Min but 'round here, people don't usually come back. Not sure what they wanted with him – I mean, there were these signs all around town that said he was the real leader. Does that mean anything to you?"

Minho shrugged and he looked around at the other Gladers. "He was the one who got us outta that shuck Maze after 2 years of driving ourselves insane," he admitted. "Sure wish we coulda followed that thing – he deserves to a get a cure as much as any of us. Though I'm not sure why those WICKED Shuckfaces dumped him in with us in the first place if he was helping them."

Brenda shrugged and stood up, dusting herself off as she left to go find Jorge. As she walked up behind him, she saw that his eyes were focused on a point above the horizon that seemed to be getting bigger.

"Hermana, you thinkin' what I'm thinking?" Jorge murmured as the dot started to grow, forming the shape of something very familiar.

"A BERG!" Brenda cried out. She whipped around and yelled at the Gladers to take a look. Newt and Minho were at her side in a flash.

"What's the plan?" Minho demanded as he rolled his shoulders. "We gonna storm that thing, fight those Shuckfaces, and get our Shank back?"

"Yeah great plan, ya Slinthead," Newt snorted. "Those Shanks could have weapons like that Crank ready to shoot at us if we rush at 'em."

Jorge whirled around and yelled at both of them to shut up before stepping closer towards the Berg. Brenda held her breath as the Berg disposed a body and Jorge dashed over to it as the Berg took off.

"Is it?"

"It's him!" Jorge called out. "Get him undercover– he's unconscious but I think he'll come to."

Minho stepped around Brenda and helped Jorge carry Thomas under a covered area. She craned her neck to get a better look at him.

He had color in his cheeks – better than the last time she saw him, with his face going pale as blood gushed from the bullet wound. It looked like someone had patched his jacket where the bullet had been and he was breathing steadily.

The other Gladers followed after Jorge and Minho while she sank to her knees, breathing a sigh of relief.

He was going to make it. She knew they only helped him because WICKED put their faith in him, believing he was the ideal candidate. Her mission file said it wasn't certain, especially since Teresa seemed to rival him in terms of smarts and problem solving. A slight pang of guilt hit her at the thought of WICKED – she knew that he was convinced that it was going to be over, just like that when it was all said and done. But Brenda knew that once he completed Phase 2, it was only going to result in Phase 3, which could mean…

"You all right hermana?" Jorge interrupted as he knelt down next to her. "You knew they weren't going to let him die right?"

"Yeah I knew," she mumbled in a low voice. "Jorge, why the hell are we doing this?"

Jorge sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "Like their motto, we believe it too. Or believed, whichever you wanna say." He studied her expression and tilted his head. "Don't tell me you actually became friends with him and are thinking about breaking protocol, are you?"

Brenda sighed and shook her head, a faint smile crossing her lips.

"Well shuck me."


End file.
